McDonagh Cup centrepiece of opening weekend in Liscannor

It’s good to be back. I’m right in the deep end this week with one of the best opening weekend’s coursing in a number of years with the weather conditions over the summer being appreciated by coursing supporters and their dogs if not the general populus. There’s a cracking Cup in prospect in Kilflynn that’ll need a little extra work, but the McDonagh Cup in Liscannor won’t be easy won with a number of very interesting entries.

McDonagh Cup– Draw

Avenue Ranger
Blueview Sanual

Murtys Away
Beef Budget

Summerfield King
My Man

Spuds
Shyan Jonboy
———————–
Speakeasy Foley
Drumcrow Rab

Wood Dynamo
Sir Doolittle

Advantage
Bobs Goldrush

Rossies Kingdom
Whiskey Galore

Front Runners

The softer ground this season has attracted the strongest field to the McDonagh Cup in Liscannor in a number of years with some useful pups and a number of exciting third season dogs among the competitors. The great unknown of course is how dogs will train on and it’ll take up to a month for the season to start to develop a patten. But just what can we expect?

Probably the pick of the first round buckles is the top clash, which sees Avenue Ranger, twice a Cup winner and a Cup runner-up last season meet Maxi Collins’ Blueview Sanual, twice a beaten Trial Stake finalist. It’ll be interesting to see how both have trained on this season. Avenue Ranger claimed some big scalps last year including Floating Patriot and he could be a useful runner early in the season. Maxi of course knows how to prepare a dog right and Sanual has the potential to cause an upset here. He ran up Trial Stakes in Ballinagar and Gorey last season. Galbally Trial Stake winner Beef Budget and the ATM Syndicates’ Murtys Away are both interesting runners with the latter the sort of dog well capable of winning a cup this year should things fall right for him. He reached both a final and a semi-final last season.

In the second quarter Summerfield King and Shyan Jonboy could be challengers if they up their game from last seaon. Jonboy reached the final of the Trial Stake here last season and reached the TA Morris final. Jonboy performed at his best early in the season and might be at his best early this year.

The third quarter has a couple of interesting dogs including Drumcrow Rab and Wood Dynamo. Drumcrow Rab only ran on three occasions last season losing out to Kyle Bruce and Fingal Billy as they collected Trial Stakes. He could represent a bit of value and I’d give him a great chance of reaching the final at his best. He’s a  litter brother of Blue Abella the Kitty Butler winner. Wood Dynamo is a dog I had plenty of time for but I’m not sure he got over running and reaching the final in Westmeath last season. If he’s back at his best he’s also an interesting runner.

In the bottom quarter the two interesting runners are Advantage and Whiskey Galore. Advantage hasn’t been sighted since winning the Trial Stake here last season and it’ll be fascinating to see how he goes. Whiskey Galore, the track bred double cup winner last season missed out on his trip to Clonmel last term but he’s fairly lightly coursed and could give this Cup a rattle if he can rediscover his form from the Waterford meeting.

Destie seeks Dungarvan hat-trick and Deise Cup double

Droopys Bestie will go in search of a third win at the annual Dungarvan meeting when he takes to the field on Saturday. Having won his Trial Stake as a pup at the Dungarvan meeting he returned 12 months ago to claim last year’s renewal of the Deise Cup. On Saturday he seeks a hat-trick of titles.

Deise Cup– Draw and Betting

Sunfire Nova- 7/1
Classic Percy- 8/1

Droopys Bestie- 3/1
Bernish Jet- 8/1

Knockrour Jazz- 8/1
Black And White- 4/1

Droopys Skydive- 8/1
Fairyfield Park- 10/1
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Lisloose Dynamo- 8/1
India Rio- 8/1

Avenue Ranger- 5/2
Lobnamna Fagan- 10/1

Macroney Rebel- 4/1
Go Conquer- 6/1

Whiskey Galore- 3/1
Maughera King- 10/1

Front Runners

Droopys Bestie is the obvious starting point when assessing a meeting being run on this field. The son of Droopys Saunders and Bower Sign has a record second to nothing in the field. A three time Cup winner last season, injury ruled him out of the National Meeting and he returned in Enniscorthy only to lose out to eventual winner Hotspot. He has a potential banana skin in the opener against Bernish Jet who makes his first appearance since Glin in early October. Sunfire Nova and Classic Percy renew rivalries from Johnstown and Urlingford, Classic having gotten the better of Sunfire in the second round on that occasion.

In the second quarter Knockrour Jazz and Black And White should prove to be a fascinating encounter. Jazz made a decent start to the season reaching the third round in Ballyheigue before losing out to eventual winner Lochbo Charlie in Bandon on his last outing. Black And White will be looking to make up for the disappointment of his first round exit to Bunnow Hulahul in Glanworth. He had previously claimed the Treaty Cup at the Limerick City meeting. Droopys Skydive the Interclub winner in Fermoy might well be the Joker in the pack here. It’ll be interesting to see how far he can progress.

India Rio is in his fourth season but showed on his last outing that he still has some of the old pace. He meets another duffer winner, Lisloose Dynamo a dog who won the duffer in Abberydorney on his only start to date. Dan Brassil’s Avenue Ranger is a dog on the up having reached the semi-final in Edenderry on his first start of the season and then winning the Cup in Rathkeale on his second. He’s the 5-2 favourite for the stake.

The bottom quarter sees a number of interesting runners not least Macroney Rebel the Fermoy Trial Stake winner. Fermoy have a habit of throwing good Trial Stake winners and how Rebel performs at the weekend will give us a better idea if this fella can be another Mafi Magic. He meets Go Conquer in the opening round, a dog unlucky in Old Kilcullen on his last start. It should prove an informative buckle. In the bottom buckle Whiskey Galore has proven to be something of revelation. Two wins from two outings he’s already amassed 8 points and €4,300 prize money. He’d be fancied to take care of Maughera King and after than could well be the dog to beat.

Can Whiskey Galore upset Magic’s Kilsheelan hat-trick bid?

Wilton Magic is the favourite at Kilsheelan on Saturday as he aims to claim back-to-back Tipperary Cups but he’ll have his work cut out for him with plenty of very good dogs aiming to knock him off his perch. Whiskey Galore winner of the Urbs Intacta might well be the most appealing but the time could be right for Needham Simple to come good.

Tipperary Cup– Draw and Betting

Chubbys Gael- 5/1
Wyken Power- 6/1

Norfolk Neptune- 10/1
Wilton Magic- 2/1

Whiskey Galore- 3/1
Westgate Romeo- 10/1

Maughera King- 10/1
Chinook Zebo- 10/1
———————-
Sheeraghs Lad- 6/1
Cracking Jet- 6/1

Classic Percy- 10/1
Fhink Fast Fred- 10/1

Flowing Wind- 10/1
Needham Simple- 4/1

Bricklane Bobby- 8/1
Johnny Houdini- 10/1

Front Runners

Any examination of the Tipperary Cup has to start with Wilton Magic, twice a winner on this field, winning his Trial Stake here and then claiming this stake in 2013. The son of Mafi Magic and Mountain Guest ran well on his debut this season when claiming the Rakes of Mallow from Glenlough Mick a couple of weeks ago.

He should have too much for Norfolk Neptune but will have a stiff examination of his credentials when he meets the winner of Chubbys Gael and Wyken Power. Chubbys Gael ran well on his last outing when reaching the final at Thurles only to lose out to Coshair Slane. Wyken Power hasn’t quite returned to his best so far this season but he will need to if he’s to threaten here.

In the second quarter is Whiskey Galore, a dog I was very taken by when winning on debut in the Urbs Intacta in Waterford. The track bred might well an unfashionable choice for this but he did precious little wrong and was showing up well on the clock. That experience and a couple of weeks rest will have stood to him and he could well be worth taking a punt on at 3-1. He will be well fancied to come out of his quarter and then anything is possible.

In the bottom half Needham Simple‘s name jumps off the page. He’s been infuriatingly inconsistent this season but I do fancy him to reach the semi-final here at the very least. On his day he’s a good as anything in the country and for the sake of my fantasy coursing selections I hope he does the business!

Cracking Jet might be the biggest danger in this half if he can return to the form which saw him claim the Hitchens Post Cuo in Borrisoleigh at the end of last season. He’s already reached the semi-final in Crohane this season and can reach the final again if at his best.